Mercurial
by SilverStarShine94
Summary: Their attraction was simply mercurial; slippery, hot, and intangible. She couldn't handle it. PeinSaku
1. Chapter 1

**Mercurial**

_Their attraction was simply mercurial; slippery, hot, and intangible. She couldn't handle it. PeinSaku_

* * *

...

...

Buildings crumbled to dust, places she had known since childhood were reduced to rubble within seconds, like some hand of a great, forgotten Kami had reached down and wiped away everything she knew and loved in seconds.

The last two things Sakura saw that day (that _hated_ day) were a flash of orange and the ground rushing up to meet her.

_..._

_..._

Ame, or Rain, was obviously named by some uninventive, uninspired soul, but one who certainly went for the most defining aspect of the place. The other competitor's for the title might have been Grey, or Dank, or Neglect. If Sakura had anything to say about this it would have been named Misery, Hatred, or just plain old _Urgh_ on a slightly good day.

The first thing she saw when she woke from a drug induced stupor was grey. More grey than she was sure she had ever seen in her entire life. As though she had suddenly gone colour-blind; grey sky, grey ground, grey metal buildings stretching so high they seemed to meld with the sky, the grey swirling eyes of the Akatsuki Leader peering down at her.

It could have been classified as one of those situations where something like a choice is presented in front of you, but in reality you have about as much leeway and as many options as a battery chicken crammed in a tiny cage; squawking among many thousands of individuals, lying in your own shit and used solely as a kind of one organism production line. A machine only kept to produce, produce, produce until the eggs dried up and suddenly you found yourself as the centrepiece to some charming families' Sunday Roast... as trussed up in death as you were in life.

But, maybe, Sakura later mused - scratching another line to add to the growing collection on her wall - she would find a way out that wasn't straight into the greedy, bloodstained claws of the slaughterhouse.

Then again, that seemed about as likely as that battery chicken suddenly learning how to fly.

At the time, she tried to spit at him. Her limbs were too bound to do anything else, and her chakra was still inhibited by the drug that she could feel coursing through her system like a swarm of red hot ants in her veins. The most pathetic thing was that her mouth was too dry to do much more than pucker her lips at him - she was dangerously dehydrated, you must understand.

He had seen this and rather than mock her or hit her, as she had expected, he had given her a drink from his own water canteen. Tipping it up with willowy fingers and such care to make sure that it was just enough to drink and not enough to choke or splutter on. He spoke all the while - words fuzzy and indistinct and thick in her mind.

Suitably hydrated and refreshed, Sakura had proceeded to spit properly at him and then promptly pass out.

...

The next time Sakura drew into consciousness it was far more leisurely - a slow movement that was more like strolling down a slight decline, rather than being forcibly pushed off of a mountain.

Sensations flourished into being around her; the smooth texture of wood beneath her fingertips, the slight sinking of something soft supporting her rear, the faintest scent of something musky, but not at all unpleasant, and lastly a quiet commanding voice easily heard over the constant patter of raindrops against glass.

"Welcome to Ame - I didn't think you were well enough to register that last time."

Her eyes snapped open with enough force to make her still muggy head spin - flashing green orbs narrowed almost to slivers in an instant. The lighting was in the room was soft, almost so much so that it caused deteriorated visibility, and yet he still seemed to glow. The crown of orange hair that surrounded his head like a halo of fire seemed to attract and reflect every beam of light. Sakura found herself unable to look away though he had done nothing but sit there - behind a plain wooden desk.

"My name is Pein, but usually those in my employ call me Leader."

She moved to stand, but found herself pinned by some force she couldn't see. Chakra. His chakra - the fact registered slowly in her mind - was stronger than any shackles she had ever encountered and it wasn't solid, so she couldn't break it with her own chakra enhanced strength. Despite the fact that her mind was working furiously, she could not work out how he had done it; his hands had remained motionless so no seals had been made, and Sakura had never heard of a jutsu that created a force strong enough to pin, but not to crush, with nothing... nothing but air, it would seem. This was highly sophisticated ninjutsu.

Gritting her teeth, she fought the helplessness that welled up inside of her. Pein seemed content to sit there, almost relaxed, calmly waiting for her to speak. She wanted to spit at him again and see his reaction this time, wanted to rip those unblinking grey eyes out with her bare fingers, wanted to peel out those piercings one by one and slice him to shreds with them, but she was utterly immobilised.

"I don't want anything from you. Least of all your _welcome_," she finally responded, to his first statement.

Sakura didn't even want to think of the implications of the second.

He shrugged his shoulders in a barely perceptible movement - nothing he did was wasteful, no energy was expanded unnecessarily. His strange ringed eyes blinked shut for a long moment as he seemed to compose himself - perhaps mentally run over what he was about to say so that no words were misplaced. It occurred to her that he looked so much younger like that - far less distant.

"Despite what you may think, what you want is important here," Pein stated, without opening his eyes.

The emphasis placed on the word _here_ was not missed by Sakura. Her hackles raised at the sign of any insult to Konoha - intended or not.

"Destroying my home, killing those I love, kidnapping and drugging me obviously demonstrates that."

The full force of his gaze hit her like a physical blow when he reopened his eyes - she found herself wanting to look away, but almost being unable to. Her eyes continually darted to the side, but returned to him almost in the same instant. Tsunade's teachings about never looking away from the enemy were what she truly wanted to say caused that, but truthfully it felt like more of a compulsion than a decision.

"Pain is a necessary part of life. In time you will realise that this was better."

"The end justifies the means?" Sakura hissed, scathingly, anger crawling in her stomach like something alive.

Pein inclined his titian head in agreement - seemingly ignoring the spite and sarcasm that dripped darkly from her words.

"I did tell you my offer before, but now I feel it would be advisable to allow you some time to adjust. I would like for your decision to be made with full knowledge and free will."

Sakura was unsure what was worse; a deluded megalomaniac causing her suffering while genuinely thinking he was doing the right thing, or someone actively trying to make her life as miserable as possible without any questionable morals to hide behind.

"It's not like I have a choice," she half-shouted, voice quivering with anger.

The thought that everyone she knew could be long dead by now and she didn't even know stormed through her mind - mixing with the anger to form a caustic mix of emotions that were probably pouring from her in waves. She wanted to cry - could feel the hot tears pricking at the corners of her eyes - but knew that it was completely pointless and not something that she wanted Pein to see. All of the fight drained from her in an instant, and she wanted to crawl into a dark, deserted corner - like a cat, she preferred to lick her wounds far from prying eyes.

As though sensing her thoughts, Pein was in front of her faster than she could blink - the chakra pressing her down released. His eyes were even more striking close up and his hair seemed to be the only colour in the room apart from the blood red splatters on his cloak. She recoiled slightly, teeth bared. Sakura expected him to touch her, though she wasn't sure why. Her eyes flickered between his pale, grave face and his slack, slender hands.

"I give you a week."

His index finger twitched as though he was pulling the trigger of an imaginary gun and Sakura instantly fell deep into unconsciousness.

...

By this point Sakura had quickly grown weary of being forced into unconsciousness - it also did not bode well for her health.

She closed her eyes tightly - listening intently - before cracking open her eyes. She had expected a cell; shackles, questionable toilet facilities, ever present drip, moss and damp and of course a squeaking, stained mattress. Instead, it seemed more like a guest room than anything else. A neutral colour scheme, decent sized double bed with a metal frame, a window, a desk, a bookshelf and a wardrobe all met her searching eye.

Around both of her wrists were light, finely wrought metal bands. The metal was lighter than any she had ever encountered before and was covered in a variety of symbols which flared red like a warning every time she tried to use chakra. After some experimentation (and many failures) Sakura was satisfied that she could only use chakra on herself, and not very much of it. Just enough to heal small wounds, not enough to fuel her chakra-enhanced strength.

Flopping back down onto the disgustingly comfortable bed she scowled at the ceiling and wondered what the hell she was going to do now. The lack of knowledge - of Konoha, of everyone - clawed at her gut like a wild beast; an insatiable ache that did nothing but build and build. She stood and paced restlessly - moving from the door to the window with solid steps.

There was no clock. The sky was grey and overcast enough that it could be anytime from very early morning to very late afternoon.

Still, people scurried about in a thin sliver of street that she could see beyond the walls and metal and wires, so it was probably more towards midday. The window itself was thin and fine - made of many tiny panels of slightly different square and rectangular glass shapes melded together - but the seal over it was stronger than steel.

Further exploration found a bathroom with a small window, bath, shower and sink. A fluffy white towel hanging over a rail. Tiny soaps shaped like seashells, sweet smelling shampoo and conditioner, a brush with a gleaming embossed metal, a mirror surrounded with metal so shiny it was almost reflective itself. No razors, or anything else sharp that might have been found in a normal bathroom. The mirror was sealed like the windows so that it couldn't be broken for a sharp edge. The lights were set firmly in the ceiling so that there nothing to hang a rope from - or, perhaps an improvised set of bed sheets.

Sakura noticed this, along with the mother of pearl patterns set into the bathroom walls and thought that even the tiles were probably sealed. They most definitely wanted her alive. But why? She stalked back into the bedroom and prowled the entire room for some sign of... she didn't exactly know what. Something. The drawers in the desk were empty save for two pens and a blank notebook wrapped in soft white leather with a delicate silver ribbon used to close it.

The bookcase was almost full - everything was medicine, sealing, or Tailed Beast related save for a few scrolls on the history of Ame. The wardrobe smelled of pine and was large enough to stand in. Inside were a few outfits - a black dress, a white medic's skirt, a dark zippered top, baggy shinobi trousers, a dark kimono with white trees, and a huge raincoat.

Everything was neutral coloured down to the white coat hangers. It was as though they were afraid of colour.

Tiny drawers were also inside the wardrobe - their handles set with mother of pearl and beautifully shaped metal. Each one held something different; bandages, fabric elbow and knee covers, hairpins with dulled edges, three white and three black bras with matching underwear, gloves - fingerless, leather, reinforced fabric. She closed the door with a slam and returned to pacing. It felt as though hours had passed, but the edgy crawling feeling of being watched never left.

Sakura imagined his eyes; swirling and unblinking staring from every surface.

Eventually, she stepped straight into the wardrobe, slid to the floor and closed the doors. Encompassed in the darkness and the smell of pine that reminded her burningly, _achingly_, of the forest around Konoha Sakura finally allowed herself to cry. The hot bitter tears streamed down her face in salty trails that nipped and stung. She remained unsure whether they were in mourning or in anger.

When the tears stopped, she stayed there for a while; curled in on herself in the darkness silently plotting.

Days had passed definitely - probably around eight, maybe more and maybe less. She couldn't do anything in particular without information and she had no idea how she could get it here. Escaping was always a goal, if not particularly a possibility. Killing Pein - and the rest of his filth - was almost a temptation. He had said that she had a week, but for what she wasn't sure. Whatever they wanted from her was still a mystery - an unknown quality that could alter the scales dramatically.

And she didn't even know how long it had been since he declared that... An hour? A day? Time had become distant and elastic and the more she thought about it the more restless she became. When Sakura finally started to feel stiff from her huddled position, her thoughts drew to the more immediate problem. Namely that she absolutely reeked. Sweat, blood, dirt and Kami knows what else still covered her.

Still, that was preferable to someone changing her while she was unconscious. That thought made a fine tremor run through her thoughts.

Kicking open the door, she stretched and peered at the foggy light streaming through the window that still somehow managed to bother her darkness-adjusted eyes. The ever-present, ever-depressing rain still drummed at the windows like a thousand tiny fingers. Stripping as she walked, she climbed into the tub and cranked up the heat for the shower as far as it would go.

It was easy to forget for a while - as the steam clouded her vision - that she was standing naked in the domain of an arch enemy and not in her cosy, crappy little bathroom back in Konoha.

And, as it turned out, Sakura hadn't entirely imagined the feeling of eyes watching her.

...

Turning his head, the moment a glimpse of far too much pale flesh registered in his line of vision Pein moved to dull the screen propped at the end of the long table. A long suffering sigh registered from his right hand side and he had to fight not to allow any derision seep into his expression.

"Ever pious, Nagato?" An amused, masculine voice sneered. "Are the sins of the flesh just _too_ much to bear?"

Keeping his expression flat and neutral, he continued to sign mission sheets, cash flow balances and several of the many other sheets clamouring for his attention. He chose not to answer his smirking comrade. Despite the garish orange mask covering his face, his feline grin of amusement was completely and utterly obvious. Uchiha Madara made a show of examining his willowy gloved fingers while feigning disinterest.

"Madara," Pein murmured eventually, voice laced with steel, "Is there something in particular you need?"

He leaned backward until only two feet of the chair were still touching the ground and made an expansive gesture with his covered arms, before tucking them snugly behind his head, just brushing the now close cropped hair, "Besides watching that... enticing show and overseeing the running of _my_ organisation... I would have to reply a negative."

Pein himself would not have called the show _enticing._ Haruno Sakura had done nothing but wander the rooms like a caged animal - expressions morphing from anger to fear to sorrow and back again faster than it almost seemed possible. She had then proceeded to catalogue every item in the room down to the last carpet fibre before curling up inside the wardrobe like a frightened child.

Something in her manner had almost irritated him; the strong edgy set of her shoulders, the brittle snap of her hips and thump of her feet as she walked. He wanted to force her to straighten and relax; wanted her staccato movements to smooth for some reason. Her crying roused no emotions; no pleasure, or anger. It was clear her thoughts were overflowing and he would rather she cried alone and gained control over herself now, than when he would visit her.

"Stay away from her, Madara."

He shrugged, and let the chair fall with a muffled thud, "You have informed me thrice of this request of yours." He held up three slim fingers, waving them mockingly close to Pein's face. "I am aware that you wish that I have no contact with her. I will not seek this kunoichi out. On my honour."

The Sharingan glinted within the hole of the mask like a firefly within the depths of a cave.

"However, if she seeks me honour will have no part in it."

...

Stepping out from the shower, Sakura quickly towelled her hair and wrapped the fluffy fabric securely around herself.

She felt infinitely more serene when she walked into the cooler bedroom; her sharp senses immediately picking up on the two pieces of paper on the floor by the door that had not been there before. Someone must have slid them through the small gap while she was showering. Stooping, she regarded them for a moment - head tilted, wet hair hanging in thick curtains - but picked them up when she was satisfied they weren't rigged, poisoned or explosive.

_This room and everything in it is yours. You are welcome here. Dinner is at 6.00 p.m. Someone will come for you, but you may familiarise yourself with the map provided. Pein._

His handwriting was long and spidery - slanted slightly to the right - and juxtaposed sharply with the short, blunt sentences that made up the note. She had noticed that he spoke like that anyway - almost stilted, as though he was holding back, but didn't expect his writing to reflect it. On another piece of smooth, high quality paper was a small map - painstakingly draw and detailed with squares marking doors, a circle within a door marking one to the outside and 'x's marking staircases. He had obviously drawn it himself despite the ruler straightness of the lines - the writing at the top was exactly the same - and that bothered her more than she wanted to admit.

On one corner there was a smudged fingerprint - the only evidence so far that his was human enough to err.

Sakura straightened with a deep frown creasing her large forehead. This 'dinner' didn't seem like an option and she was sure he wouldn't accept a refusal. The image of herself being dragged sopping wet and still in a towel down to a formal meal was disturbing enough to encourage her to dry herself quickly and move over to the wardrobe.

The Kimono was probably the only thing appropriate - she lingered on the black dress for a moment, but it was clearly a sturdy piece of combat gear rather than eveningwear. Pulling it gently from the hanger, she peeled the layers apart and thanked Tsunade's brief, traumatising lessons on culture and etiquette. The thin cotton sheath was the first to go on after the underwear and the white, plain tabi socks. Next, she slipped on the heavy, silk Kimono - the fabric pooling at her feet like a puddle of ink.

Cursing, she tried to remember how to fold it to the right length - her hands fumbling with the thick slippery fabric that refused to cooperate. She piled the snow white obi onto the bed sheets and continued to tug and arrange the fabric that just would not sit right. Eventually she gave up, momentarily, and sat on the bed. Perhaps he would laugh at her - walking down trailing fabric behind her with the Kimono opened up like it had been cut.

Then again, it didn't seem like the Akatsuki Leader had much of a capacity for humour.

Her thoughts were disturbed by a single, sharp knock on the door. Sakura stiffened, watching, unable to feel any presence. The knock was repeated - slightly louder this time. After the third time, Sakura came to terms with the fact that whoever was there wasn't leaving. Wrapping the fabric of the kimono around herself she moved to open it - standing a measured distance back.

A tall figure stood motionless at the threshold. The hair colour and unblinking spiral eyes were identical to Pein's, but this was clearly not him; unless his hair had grown exponentially, his face had taken on a more slender, delicate edge and the piercings had changed. No pleasantries were exchanged as Sakura tried to work out exactly what to do; whether to begin with a caustic insult, to slam the door in his face...

The stranger made the decision for her launching straight into conversation with - confusingly enough - a deep voice that sounded exactly like the Akatsuki Leader's, "The Kimono is troubling you?"

Was it that obvious that she was utterly hopeless? Frowning, Sakura took a small step back and pointedly did not invite him into the room. Silence stretched between them - as, like Pein - this person seemed content to stare at her as though trying to bore a hole in her head until she answered. "A little."

"I will assist you."

Sakura clenched her fist so tightly that her fingernails left crescent shaped imprints on her palms. She stared for a long moment before turning dismissively to present her back. "Do what you like." She huffed.

No movement from behind her. She resisted the urge to shoot a quizzical look over her shoulder.

Finally, he spoke, "May I enter?"

Definitely not Pein, then. She was sure he would never ask something like that, would just take. Slightly mollified, her voice softened a fraction. "You may." It was possible that she might be able to wring some much desired answers from this person before she tried to wring his neck.

"Are you a relation to Leader?" Sakura asked, in an attempt to dispel the nerves and prickling distrust that crept up as he began to methodically gather and fold the fabric draped around her. She told herself she wasn't at all curious.

"You could say that." Was the eventual answer.

When she realised that he smelled pleasant - fresh and clean, like the ground just after rainfall and not at all like the staleness of her room - she was forced to practically stop breathing for a moment in self-punishment. Nothing about these people was good. She shuddered slightly when his icy cold hands brushed her neck as he carefully folded back the collar.

"Apologies," he said, breath brushing her hair in a way that made the hairs on the back of her neck stand up, "Pass the Obi."

She did, but was careful not to touch him. Sakura stared down at the front of the Kimono as he began the difficult task of folding and tying the volumous Obi around her slender waist. Black for mourning. Trees for Konoha. She wondered if he left her this particular Kimono with irony in the gesture, with sadistic amusement in his thoughts. A way of indirectly salting her wounds.

That thought still burned white-hot as she watched the pale hands smoothly adjust the fabric swathed around her - starkly pale in contrast to the blackness of the kimono; like moonlight in the dark night sky. A large part of her wanted to snap each one of those deceptively slender fingers off one by one.

"Why am I here?" Her voice was brittle and caustic - the hands at her sides paused momentarily.

"Leader will explain to you if you ask, Haruno-san."

"I want nothing from him." Was her reply - resentment dripping from every syllable.

He moved to stand in front of her - expression near blank, but still somehow making her feel like a petulant child. In his hands were a pair of high, formal sandals - vertigously tall with a thin black silk strap to slip between her toes. She hadn't seen him holding them before, and that thought put her on edge. What surprised her even more, however, was when he stooped onto one knee, placing each shoe before her and carefully manoeuvring her dainty feet into place.

She was so shocked, in fact, that the idea to kick him in the jaw didn't even surface.

This most definitely was not Pein then. Despite the matching hair, eyes and voice. He asked if she was ready to go and Sakura hesitantly answered an affirmative. Despite her earlier statement she almost craved answers. The corridor she was lead onto was dark and quiet - even the sound of rain was banished. She stayed a few steps behind her guide - hands constantly brushing over the shackles at her wrist.

Seven flights of stairs and endless twists later and she was glad she had tucked the little map into her Obi. The room she was lead into was long and thin with a huge table dominating most of the space and a plethora of empty chairs. Floor to ceiling bay windows showed an almost panoramic view of the drizzle shrouded buildings below. Sakura deliberately looked at the view for as long as possible before turning to regard the man seated alone at the table.

He occupied one of the side chairs, near the centre, rather than the head seat she had expected him to take. Numerous dishes and plates littered the table in front of him and she noticed that a place had already been set up - presumably for her. There was nothing there for anyone else though - worryingly enough.

"Aren't you...?" Sakura turned, addressing vacant space.

Apparently her guide had saw fit to leave. Scowling, and feeling more than a little nervous, she turned back to watch Pein. He lifted the lid of one of the dishes so that all of the pent up steam poured off it in spiralling waves that reminded her irritatingly of his eyes. He cast a glance in her direction.

"This will become cold if you do not join me soon. I am sure you are famished."

And she was, not that she'd admit it. Shuffling over, Sakura carefully kept herself facing him at all times before sliding carefully into the seat. Sakura loathed his calm - features completely undisturbed, chakra tranquil. His hand didn't shudder as he moved to fill her glass with a sweet, crisp smelling liquid like a proper respectful host. For a moment, she hesitated. Then lifted the jug herself and filled his glass as a polite guest should.

Her hands shuddered so violently with repressed emotion that the liquid almost sloshed over the side.

Willing herself to be still, she snapped her chopsticks and began eating with her eyes on the food. She soon noticed that she appeared to be the only one eating - looking up, she saw Pein with his head resting casually on one hand, those hideous mercurial eyes fixed firmly on her.

"Aren't you hungry?" she asked, suspicion rising like the steam pouring from the delicious food in front of her, "Or does a deity like you not require meals?"

He ignored her jibe with his usual serenity - merely blinking at her and answering the question as though it was not purely a rhetorical one filled with spite. "I have already eaten. It would have been rude of me not to attend to you."

"There are many other things you have done that could be considered more than merely _rude._"

Pein seemed to be able to completely ignore any biting comment she made towards him, much to her chagrin. Sakura stabbed viciously at the delicate, delicious, lightly stir-fried vegetables on her plate - vaguely considering stopping eating in protest, but knowing in actuality it would be more effective to keep her strength up should any opportunity for escape or attack arise.

Silence stretched taunt as a bowstring and Sakura's temper had never had a particularly long fuse. His gaze made her want to squirm away - the weight behind it was suffocating.

"Are you going to play host all night, or are you going to tell me _why_ I am here? Or is there some kind of poison," she gestured furiously at the plates on the table, "in this that you're waiting to take effect, huh?"

This time, Sakura actually did give into her violent impulses - catching the bottom of the table with both hands and half-tipping, half launching the entire thing in his direction. Had she been in possession of all of her chakra, the move would have been far more impressive, but she managed well enough with her own strength. The table paused in its flight through mid-air - everything still as though they were in a film that had been paused. Pein held a single hand up - chakra radiating from him in waves.

Grasping one of the jugs hovering in mid-air she threw it at his head with enough force to break bones - more for the satisfaction of rebellion than injuring.

It felt as though the air closed in on her like the jaws of a giant beast. No part of her body could move because of the vice-like grip every part of her felt trapped in. Sakura felt the force of his raw strength of his chakra slamming against her in the instant it took him to reign in his control.

"I am God." He stated with the weight and fervour of a fanatic, despite his calm measured tone. "My will is divine."

Pein spread his arms expansively - turning to look out across the city. "Only once the world has experienced pain can peace prevail. You will come to understand this, Haruno Sakura, if you have not already."

It took all of her will to wrench her mouth open enough to speak - the rest of her body firmly bound in place.

"If you are a God, then I will turn away from religion forever. You sick..." It felt as though her jaw was being glued together, her tongue thick and heavy as she spat out the next words - with his eyes burning into her, "sick, manipulative, sadistic bastard!"

"You have six days before you must make a decision," he stated, eyes burning like silver fire.

_On what?_ Her mind screamed, but she couldn't speak.

The pressure increased until blackness crept up the sides of her vision and her face felt hot - like all the blood in her body was being forced into her head, like Pein was slowly crushing her from the inside out. Blackness swamped her like a tidal wave.

Sakura was truly sick of being forced into unconsciousness.

...

* * *

Never tried this pairing before. Pein is crazy hard to write. Craaazy hard. Probably just one more bit of this to go.

Thanks for reading,

Silver ~ x


	2. Chapter 2

**Mercurial**

_Their attraction was simply mercurial; slippery, hot, and intangible. She couldn't handle it. PeinSaku_

* * *

...

...

Ame had seen war, had felt war, had breathed and birthed and suffered from it. That was what she learned from the scrolls piled in the bookcase in her (prison) room. It hadn't been so much a country as it had been a battle ground. If she was to go outside and scrape her nails in the dirt beneath her feet she wasn't entirely sure that she wouldn't hit a river of blood and roads of bone a few feet beneath; such were the casualties listed.

And still, through her window, down into that sliver of street visible, she could see people smiling.

...

...

The first of the six remaining days was spent reading alone in her room; mostly the books on history. Amegakure was a very private country - she had grown up knowing almost nothing about it because of just how insular it was; people didn't leave, and the borders were fiercely guarded. Naturally, she took the chance to feverishly expand her knowledge. Less than a generation before it had been the main stomping ground of all five of the major shinobi countries - it was very central and therefore meant a lot of territory disputes.

In all of its history, it seemed Ame was never stable. The people here had the mark of suffering stamped into her skin. Each and every one of them probably knew exactly how she felt as she watched Konoha crumble. Most would have relatives killed or crippled in battle.

And, yet, this was the most industrial city she had ever encountered. Despite everything it was pushing towards the new, the modern without hesitation. The city was phoenix like - despite the rain and the death they were all burning towards a brighter future. This made her frown slightly. It might have been easier to hate Pein if this place was a wreck with the people dying while he did nothing.

Then again, it might still be. Judging the entire place on the one building she occupied, and that one little visible street was probably very foolish. Licking her finger, she flipped forward a page, to the final chapter only to be met with the signature cloud of the Akatsuki dominating the first page. Frowning, she continued to read suspicious that the Leader had allowed her to see this - sure that it would have been edited and biased to a level of almost untruth.

Perhaps, she should just stop with the assumptions - was her first thought upon finishing the chapter. Nothing had been sugar-coated as far as she could see - and if other, worse things were being concealed she was worried... If they stated in undeniable black and white that Pein eradicated anyone even remotely connected to the party that lost the civil war in Ame, she didn't even want to know what could be considered worse.

Meals were delivered at fairly regular intervals. There was a knock on the door - the click of the lock being opened - and then the long haired man who had assisted her with the Kimono on the first day slid a tray filled with steaming, delicious, already plated food before leaving just as silently as he came. By the fourth day, with nothing but scrolls she had half-devoured, regular meals, and regular baths Sakura was beyond restless and angry.

Nothing happened; no one came to demand anything of her. She was not beaten, poisoned or mistreated, but she was kept shut away like a noblewoman with nothing to do and no one to keep her company. Questions sizzled unanswered as she lay in a heavy bubble of monotony. Fear and anger and worry and choking boredom kept her awake for several nights until she was simply too tired to sleep.

Sakura watched in the polished mirror as dark circles began to spread black and itchy beneath her eyes. The rest of her face began to pale and become drawn from the lack of sun, sleep and the worry.

When she finally did sleep it was only for short periods of time before bloody images of her friends being crushed, screaming, writhing in agony jerked her into consciousness. Still, she kept a mental count of the days; waiting and willing the six to be over. Never had this amount of time taken so long to pass; it was as though she was trudging through the very sands of time themselves with tonne weights strapped to her limbs.

It almost made Sakura glad that there was no clock in the room - she was sure she would have smashed it from frustration by now.

Rolling over, she picked up an abandoned scroll propped on the pillow beside her. Turning back to the pages and pages of seals, she felt herself begin to calm as her mind submerged into the pool of knowledge. Then, the door knocked. She lowered the scroll slowly, slipping into sitting position and watching the door warily. Dinner had already passed - what could this be? Not wanting to appear too eager, Sakura waited until the second knock before answering.

"You can come in," she stated, upon seeing the long haired man that was becoming increasingly familiar.

She started when he stepped in and lightly touched her face - finger sliding across the black circle beneath her right eye - with no warning. "You have not been sleeping."

Pulling herself backwards, Sakura watched him warily. "I wonder why," she said, scathingly, but without as much malice as she might have liked.

He wasn't wearing the Akatsuki cloak and the absence of it was slightly unnerving; he looked far younger, far less bulky without it. She could even see the slender flex of his muscles if she looked too closely at the thin t-shirt covering his torso.

"I have brought something to help." He gestured to the mug resting on a metal tray on her desk, the faint smell of a mild sedative herb she recognised coiled from it.

She picked it up anyway, breathing in the scent deeply and pointedly focusing on it rather than his presence. Just to check it was the kind of herb she thought it was - the one that had no effect on her whatsoever. Taking a small sip, she tasted the bitterness and almost almond flavoured aftertaste before sighing and speaking. Sakura was sure she would never completely be able to deal with his intense stare.

"This doesn't work on me."

He might have frowned were it not for the large piercing embedded between his slanted eyes. As it was they narrowed slightly and he seemed to think about it. She carefully placed the mug back on the tray - all the while keeping her eyes on him.

"If I take you to the greenhouse, could you make a sleeping draught for yourself? Your health must be preserved."

It was her turn to frown - completely ignoring the little stutter her heart gave at the attention. He was only looking after her because he had been ordered to do so.

"Won't your Leader mind?"

He blinked slowly - a leisurely moment the seemed to drag across seconds - but his attention never seemed to waver from her.

"Would you care if he did?"

Stepping out onto the dark carpet of the equally dim corridor, she tossed her first smile in days over her shoulder," You have a point."

...

"What's your name?" She asked, attempting to break the brittle silence as they entered the hot, humid greenhouse.

He paused, considering, as though it was a difficult question, "Doubutsu."

_Animal? _Of course, her name meant a flower, but it wasn't uncommon. 'Doubutsu' could even be construed as an insult rather than someone's true name. She would be far more willing to wager that it was an alias, a codename.

Frowning, she looked around at the cluttered space rather than push for a better answer; droplets of water clung to every surface, huge blooms with protruding stamens clumped with pollen hung from bars on the ceiling, bushes sprang from every corner, tables cluttered with mortars, pestles, and delicate glass wear were lined in a row which split the entire room in half.

At one end of the glass room she could see a small rockery with a variety of tiny plants, somewhere else she could hear running water, the side closest to her had a very tropical appearance - with bright, exotic colours flaring - while other parts seemed as though they were dedicated more to woodland foliage. Sakura had no idea where to even start. Someone had worked hard on this - she had never seen such variety.

"Who -" She began.

"Zetsu - a member here. Be wary, many of these are dangerous. Do not venture to the left hand side," answered Doubutsu in clipped tones.

Sakura nodded, somewhat unwilling to turn her back to him, but also intensely curious about the medical properties of most of what was presented to her. It had occurred to her - in the jumbled mess of her thoughts - that he may have brought her here to do away with her out of Pein's watchful eyes. She was almost one hundred percent sure that Pein had bugged her room. She had been yet to find any cameras, or anything profoundly creepy, but the seals on her windows and doors weren't just for strength and chakra resistance - there was another edge, another symbol in there that she was sure was surveillance.

Walking forward she, plucked the tiny white flowers that were most familiar to her. Ground up, these would form the basis for a potent sleeping solution. Even with Doubutsu's slanted eyes on her form she managed to slip a few ingredients for a very potent poison into the folds of her clothes. Just in case. It made her feel far too exposed with nothing to protect herself with.

An hour or two must have passed in that humid space before she was finally finished. There was only so long pummelling vegetation to a mushy pulp could be dragged out for. Doubutsu remained prone on the stool he had produced from some dark corner - not bothering to hold any kind of conversation. He seemed content to humour her by sitting and waiting as long as she deemed necessary. Lifting her bowl, she poured the soupy liquid into a vial.

"All done," she attempted to smile brightly, aware that she should attempt to keep his favour.

Her gesture seemed to have no effect. He stood and smoothed down the slight creases that had formed in the thick fabric of his cloak before gesturing to the door. Sakura was loathe to go back to her prison of a room, almost as much as she was _loathe_ to consider continuing fraternizing - or even sharing the same breathing space - with the enemy. Doubutsu left without saying anything - leaving the door to click shut behind him.

Sakura eyed her dark coloured sleeping concoction wearily. She really could use a full night's sleep - and if they were doing to do something they would have done so by now. She set the corked vial down onto the desk, unloaded her contraband plants into - predictably - her underwear drawer. Crawling beneath her soft covers, she knocked back the foul tasting liquid in one quick gulp and fell into a deep sleep before her head even hit the pillows.

Dreamless sleep swept over her like a blanket.

...

The next morning... or perhaps afternoon, Sakura woke to the usual disorientation.

It was so hard to tell the time here. This was the fifth day - she had just one left before the mysterious question would be made clear. Stretching, she peered at the vial that had fallen amongst the sheets and vaguely wondered if it was worth requesting to be taken to the greenhouse to make another. Then again, it was probably very weak and cowardly of her to be avoiding her dreams and her - deserved - guilt by taking the liquid.

Caught up in her thoughts, she started violently when a sharp rap on the door sounded in the otherwise silent room. She must have slept late. Leaping up she considered, dressing and brushing her teeth, but knew that whoever was outside would most likely not wait for her to do her usual morning ablutions. Pulling back the door, she confronted Doubutsu in all of her messy haired, morning breathed, pyjama clad glory. It wasn't like she cared what he thought.

"Come. I will take you to the market," he said, with little pomp or ceremony.

"Right now?" Sakura squeaked, lifting an arm to cover her now exposed feeling torso.

If she wasn't mistaken she was sure his mouth quirked into the tiniest of smirks. "I will give you time to get ready."

At that she slammed the door in his face. The black dress was selected after a quick scan of her limited monotone wardrobe. Sliding it on, she paused to primp slightly in the mirror - before berating herself for doing anything like that for the sake of someone whose opinion was not even in the same universe as important. Pulling open the door, she tried not to look too pathetically excited about going outside. Under no circumstances did Sakura want it to seem acceptable that she was being treated like a pet.

Of course the idea of escape crawled and festered - wriggling to the forefront of her thoughts as the dark elevator descended floors and floors. Doubutsu picked up a large, seemingly paper umbrella in the lobby and opened it as they stepped outside. Sakura tried to keep the delight from her face as she took a breath of delicious, rainwater scented fresh air - the pleasure that brought her was almost great enough to overwhelm the irritation she felt when Doubutsu held the same umbrella he was using over her head.

"I am perfectly capable of holding my own," she bit out.

"There are no others."

Folding her arms irritably she looked out at the veritable _sheet_ of rain which was so heavy it almost seemed to be a cascade of ceaseless water. It would take seconds for her to be soaked to the skin. Huffing, she shuffled the tiniest bit closer to him - just far away not to brush the fabric of his cloak.

"Is there anything you need?" He asked, beginning a slow measure pace forward.

The street was almost deserted. Tall buildings strewn with metal and wires stretched tall enough to scrape the sky, and spread out in all directions like sea of needles. Sakura tried not to be overawed by the sheer foreboding size.

"I just want a walk." She replied, mouth set in a firm line.

"Do not _walk_ too far," his silver eyes rested heavily on her.

Her hands went instinctively to the metal cuffs that always weighed more heavily on her mind than they did on her skin. She wondered if they would kill her if she tried to escape. She wondered if there was any way to get him to tell her about them. For a few moments they walked in silence - the shield of the umbrella and the curtain of rain making Sakura feel they were in a far more enclosed space than they actually were. She was acutely aware of his closeness.

"Will Pein know where I am," she tapped a lengthening nail against one cuff," from these?"

"He will know you are in the city - not precisely where. If you leave the boundaries it will stop you."

Well, that answered one question and created a whole host of others. It also presented yet another hurdle to getting out of this place. Sakura did notice that the few people they passed acted strangely - bowing and making signs towards her guide. She supposed it was the Akatsuki cloak that brought that kind of reaction. Turning, he lead her now another widening street, with what appeared to be a series of marquees in the distance - white and shining amongst the grey gloom.

"Does Pein know you have taken me out?"

He shrugged his shoulders minutely, expression not even flickering for a second. That had to mean a no, and the implications of that almost winded her. If Pein didn't know - she would have far more time to escape before he figured out she was missing. If Pein didn't know then it was far more likely Doubutsu was fond enough of her that she might be able to get more information from him.

"Tomorrow you must make your decision -"

"_On what?"_ Sakura hissed, temper snapping out unexpectedly.

"You will find out."

She wanted to beat his head against the cobbled streets beneath their feet, wanted to scream at him. Her nostrils flared and her nails bit into her palms as she clenched her fists tightly enough to hurt.

"_Tomorrow,_" his tone suddenly held an undertone of steel, "you must make your decision. We know you've looked at the books on Ame. Now would be beneficial for you to speak with the people yourself."

Sakura tried to force herself to calm, to be controlled. She loosened her tight fist - aware of the sudden, seething tension between them. He had just admitted they watched her. But she had known - it was a sensible thing to do from their point of view. She was a wild card. An enemy. A thing to be kept under careful control.

"Pein definitely doesn't know I'm out here then," Sakura exclaimed, still refusing to continue walking," because there is _no way _that megalomaniac would let me anywhere near anyone else's opinions!"

Unable to look at him any longer, she turned her head away. Anger boiled and fizzled just beneath her skin, but she was better at controlling her temper than her mentor had ever been. There might come a time when she needed his cooperation, and throwing a hissy fit in the street would not bring any benefit... save perhaps a little stress relief.

"Is that what you think, then, Haruno Sakura?" Doubutsu asked, emotion present but identifiable," Here."

He pushed the umbrella into her lax, unresisting hand, even as she tried to lean away from him. His pale fingers were as deathly cold as the last time, and Sakura blamed that for the 'zing' of electricity that skated across her skin.

"You'll get wet if you give me this," she warned, taking it anyway, still half considering using it to brain him.

It was heavy and solid in her palm - the handle made of some kind of bamboo that was smooth, worn and reassuring to touch. She stared at the designs carved in it for a long moment, mind racing. This could be the opportunity she had been waiting for. This could be when she could make the escape. Cupping the cuff in one hand, she thought hard.

"A hazard of living in Ame." He stated, looking supremely unbothered even as the first raindrops slid down his cheeks and dribbled into his long, bound hair.

Doubutsu still stood very still - watching her as a bird of prey might watch a field mouse in the grass below. As if he was waiting for her to leap off and make her intentions of running all too clear. Sakura forced herself to stay very still and not quiver with the excitement that made her toes curl within her thick black boots. She wanted to hug him tightly for doing this, but also wanted to crush his bones in her bare hands.

"If you do not meet me here in one hour I will find you, Haruno-san."

Whether that was a promise or a warning, she wasn't exactly sure.

Turning, Sakura smiled sweetly over her shoulder from beneath the umbrella and walked towards the tents and people in the distance.

...

As soon as she was sure he couldn't see her anymore; when she had reached the tents and continuously looked behind herself; Sakura broke into a run.

It felt so exhilarating to actually use her muscles that she almost wanted to laugh. Blood pumped, her lungs swelled with sweet fresh air and for a glorious second, she felt completely and utterly free as her feet hammered off the cobbles and she darted amongst the crowd. Taking a few turns, she did not pause to question anyone. Doubtless the people here would most likely be the most loyal area. She was absolutely sure they would not leave her anywhere near anyone who would give a negative opinion.

Powering around another few corners, she finally slowed to a jog when she reached a series of alleys - with sides so narrow and tall the umbrella almost couldn't squeeze between the walls and the downpour of rain began to lessen.

Setting the umbrella down, she slid into a deserted doorway that was the clean save for one greasy pizza box containing a slice of pepperoni pizza with a tiny nibble out of one corner - as though a fussy child, or a mouse had been the last to eat it. She sensed no chakra signals particularly near and the alleys were silent save for the ever-present pitter patter of rain. Lifting her arm she fingered the cuff thoughtfully.

One hour to disable it and run.

One fucking hour.

It took about twenty minutes for her to fully compose the hand signs she thought might work in her mind. She continually went over the pattern, going as far as to scrape it into the cardboard of the box beside her using her nails in an attempt to check it was alright. This would most likely be her only shot. The pressure actually made her feel a little lightheaded. Taking a deep breath, she shot a final glance

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." Murmured a deep, baritone from somewhere to the left of her.

Giving in to her earlier impulse - she really did stand and swing the umbrella at this one's head in a heavy blow that he only just ducked beneath. Seemingly unperturbed, he extended a black gloved hand and advanced as though intending to shake her hand. Leaping back, Sakura bared her teeth and lifted the umbrella as menacingly as one can lift a painted paper umbrella. There was no point in being civil - he had seen what she was doing.

This space was so restrictive that it made her nervous. There was barely room to manoeuvre the umbrella - her impromptu weapon - and her fighting style in general was not suited to confined spaces.

"My name is Tobi, darling." He said, relentlessly pacing towards her with his hand extended.

Definitely an Akatsuki - he was wearing the cloak - and that realisation made her heart drop to her toes. So much for a smooth escape. The Akatsuki seemed to be truly populated by freaks - this one was wearing a swirling, orange mask with only one eye-hole. Unfortunately his depth perception did not seem to be affected. Now she knew for certain that she was thinking about Pein too much when even this freak's mask reminded her of his eyes because it had swirls.

It occurred to Sakura that if she ever did get back to Konoha and her bathroom was still in one piece, she would have to tear down the silver swirly wallpaper in there for her own piece of mind.

"I am _not _your darling," she spat, continually moving backwards out of his way.

He paused for a moment. Seemingly contemplative behind the hideously weird mask. Naruto probably would have liked it, her traitorous mind supplied; orange was his favourite colour after all.

"Love, then?" He asked, tilting his head to the side in a manner that was creepily reminiscent of a quizzical child.

"I would not have imagined an Akatsuki would have a fondness for pet names," Sakura stabbed, glancing over her shoulder in search of an escape route.

He laughed, suddenly in front of her lifting a gloved hand to run his knuckles down the side of her cheek. "Can you blame me when presented with such a beauty?"

She grabbed his arm and simultaneously gripped and twisted hard enough to break and cause a considerable measure of pain. Not for the first time she was acutely aware of her lack of chakra. This only seemed to make him laugh harder - even when she attempted to gouge out his eye through the hole of his mask. Lifting her, he pressed forward until her back slammed against the brick wall with enough force to dislodge some of the tiny stones embedded in it.

"I'm sorry, lo - Sakura-san, I was just far too curious as to why you are wandering outside all by yourself," Tobi continued, voice light and airy despite the fact he was pinning her.

"Doubutsu is escorting me," she breathed, winded," He is close by."

He was far taller than her and although he seemed to be of a wiry, slim build the force of his weight was still enough to make it difficult to breathe. Unable to do anything else, she bit him through the thick layers of cloth - the fabric fuzzy and unpleasant against her tongue. Tobi didn't even seem to notice - so set on continuing his polite conversation, as though they were sitting down to a formal dinner.

"Then he is lax; you are alone. Now, what would Pein say, hm?"

Struggling, she spoke only because he seemed to lean back a little when she answered.

"Pein doesn't... doesn't know."

She didn't like Doubutsu, but she knew he was doing this illicitly and she had no idea what Pein would do to him if he found out. She didn't want another guard, wanted someone who might be a little more pliable should she make an escape attempt, and most of all would feel some measure of guilt if he was dragged away to be tortured.

"Now that is intriguing," Tobi said, drawing back.

Sakura tried to kick him straight away - to give him a good solid boot to his masked face - but was yanked back. Looking up, she cursed. Her wrists were bound to one of the many drainpipes that crawled down the walls by a fabric tie and those accursed metal cuffs that had caused so much trouble. Tobi seemed content to watched her struggle, hiss and writhe - head tilted in a way that suggested his eyes were fixed firmly and unrepentantly below her chin. Sakura wanted to cover herself from his gaze.

"I would prefer if you didn't tell him," she said finally, teeth clenched.

Tobi lifted his free hand to ruffle his hair luxuriously as though he was thinking deeply. His hair was thick, dark and inky - long enough to spike out from behind that ridiculous mask.

"I shall be forced to blackmail you, Sakura-san." He answered, solemnly but with dark humour lacing his words - childlike tone dropped.

...

* * *

Man, every time I start a fic it always spirals out of control and plot just keeps trying to tangent and leap all over the place. :P I need to stop doing that. Also, Madara, stop being fun to write - you ho. Next chapter soon, hopefully!

Thanks for reading,

Silver ~ x


	3. Chapter 3

**Mercurial**

_Their attraction was simply mercurial; slippery, hot, and intangible. She couldn't handle it. PeinSaku_

* * *

...

"Blackmail." Sakura repeated, willing herself to have misheard.

_"_Blackmail," Tobi agreed, chirpy childish voice appearing again for a moment," as derived from the phrase _reditus nigri _or perhaps the older _blathaichmal -"_

Taking advantage of the fact that he seemed to be paying slightly less attention to her, Sakura began to pick at the ties that bound her to the railing - trying not to squirm too much and give herself away. Tobi seemed content to continue talking - his deep baritone rumbling above even the constant drum of the rain all around them; beating off the tin roofs, and splattering against the hard concrete floor. Vaguely, Sakura wondered if Doubutsu was looking for her yet.

"- which comes from the words - _bl-aich_ (to protect) and _mal_ (tribute or payment). Of course, you are too young to remember that: the days when tribute was paid in goods or labour - or maybe," she could almost feel the smirk behind his theatrical pause, "pretty young girls like you could offer something quite different, hm?"

"I would _never_ -" she snarled, momentarily distracted.

Her angry outburst was abruptly cut off when he placed a single, gloved finger to her lips as though to silence a child. Sakura was in half a mind to try and bite it off, but somehow she thought he might actually like it and could barely stand the thought of tasting any part of him. And then she became aware of the sweetish, familiar, nostril burning smell of chloroform emanating from his glove as he pressed it firmly to her mouth and nose. The eerie, unblinking gaze of his one visible eye.

"Hush now," Tobi murmured in a stage whisper, amused.

Maybe it wasn't chloroform - or it was some compound that she wasn't familiar with - because everything didn't go black as she had expected. Instead she felt drowsy, limp and pliable - her arms falling slack as she dangled listlessly inches above the ground. Tobi withdrew his hand and cocked his head to the side - the light catching a single, _red_ eye within the depths of the hole in his mask. That red eye was important, her thoughts screamed, but the drug dulled her to the point that she couldn't quite think why.

"Unless you want me to tell Pein about your escape attempt, you'll come and visit me, Sakura."

She nodded, cursing herself for not being more careful.

"Visit you?" Her muggy voice still managed an incredulous tone. Something far more sinister had been expected. Her head sinking forward slightly as the drug seemed to seep further into her system. Tobi slid a hand under her chin, tilting her head up until she looked into that single, enigmatic, red, red eye.

"Yes," he said slowly, as though speaking to a child," the fourth door on the left on the fourth floor, tonight at eight. Just after your evening meal is delivered."

"Fourth door, fourth floor, at eight," she repeated, "Right."

His hand slinked up to where her wrists were bound so that her face was pressed against his chest. Dully, she felt him loose her wrists until they flopped by her sides lifelessly. He carefully straightened her, pushing the - now open - umbrella into her hands and manoeuvring her until she held it over her head. Everything felt strangely far away. As though she was watching the events in slow motion on the television.

"The drug will wear off very, very soon, my love. I _suggest_," the word and the tone behind it made her spin stiffen to an almost uncomfortable degree, heart racing, eyelids feeling as though they had been pinned back, "that you make your way back to Doubutsu."

She did almost mechanically, mind clearing with every step. Doubutsu was waiting perfectly still where she had left him; as though he hadn't moved the entire time. Sakura cursed the latest development - mind flickering over the impending visit even as she tried to give her guide a tiny smile.

"I trust you enjoyed yourself," he said, with the tiniest twitch of his own thin lips.

"It was _illuminating_," Sakura replied, irrationally sure that she caught sight of a flash of orange in her peripheral vision as they walked back towards the building.

Probably because she did.

...

Time seemed to gallop forward from then on, until the tray was slid into her room at - what she could only assume was - the usual time.

It smelled sinful; she could never say they didn't feed her properly, but Sakura simply didn't feel hungry. Maybe it was the remainders of whatever drug she had inadvertently inhaled just a few hours before. Or maybe it was the nerves crawling in her stomach like a thousand insects. It was then that she noticed the usual click of the lock turning hadn't appeared. Whoever had delivered her meal had purposefully left the door unlocked.

The burning feeling of imminent ambush made itself present as she looked suspiciously between the food and the door. Tobi was more prepared than she might have expected. Lifting the still warm, probably freshly baked roll from the tray Sakura quickly demolished it, before turning her attention to the thick soup and sticky dango. Even if she felt like she was going to vomit, it was best to keep her strength up.

Standing she looked critically down at her simple black dress, before frowning. It wasn't like she cared what he thought. After several minutes of listening intently by the door, Sakura deemed it acceptable to crack it open a miniscule fraction and peer down the dark, empty hallway. The thick carpet muffled any sounds she might have made as she crept along, past several shut doors and down a stairwell.

It always unnerved her how quiet this place was. The forth door on the fourth floor looked like every other; solid, polished dark wood - completely ordinary. Lifting her hand she gingerly placed her fingertips on the handle before firmly pressing when no trap was sprung. The room inside was dark, but not quite as dark as the corridor she had left. Tobi sat on a chair in the middle - position somehow dominating and relaxed in the same instant - as though he had dragged it there with the intention of waiting for her at the door.

"I have a secret for you, Sakura." Tobi said, standing and forgoing any kind of normal greeting.

Although she was sure she would regret it, Sakura took a single step inside and closed the door behind her. She was very careful to never present her back to him, to never take her eyes off of him for one fraction of a second.

"Well," she said impatiently, an edge of nerves wriggling through her tone, hands moving to firmly plant on her generous hips," tell me then."

"You have to come closer," he almost laughed, using a childlike tone that was profoundly unnerving.

Curiosity burned in the pit of her stomach. Even as her mind reminded her that this one was dangerous, that she had no idea of his intentions. Stepping minutely closer, she stood rigid. Tobi lifted a hand and crooked his finger - like a puppet on strings she took another step until he loomed over her. She almost skittered backwards like a nervous animal when he leaned down to whisper in her ear - only her pride kept her in place.

Tobi's hair - silky and dark like a raven's feathers brushed the side of her cheek though he kept the rest of his body tilted away from her. He had tilted the mask to the side slightly - she felt his lips brushing the shell of her ear and she shuddered. The urge to turn to the side and catch a glimpse of the face he always hid was overwhelming.

"Pein uses multiple bodies - seven, in fact - and Doubutsu is one of them."

The lips just brushing her ear pursed as he turned and pressed a chaste kiss to her cheek. Lifting her hand, she punched him in the face as hard as she could manage without chakra - which was still pretty damn hard. The mask cracked but stayed firmly in place. Sakura was sure she heard him laugh and that was what finally set her off; launching herself at him and tearing viciously at him.

Her fingers met nothing but air; the faint popping noise and waft of smoke telling her that she had been left alone with her rage and her tumulus thoughts. Grasping her hair, Sakura was tempted to pull until she was bald, before aiming a swift kick at the chair he had previously been sitting on - letting it splinter and crack against the opposite wall with savage satisfaction.

Suddenly, all the energy seeped from her body as though her brief tantrum had forcibly pulled it from her.

Doubutsu was Pein. She had suspected that - in the depths of her mind - but had not wanted to come to terms with it. She vaguely almost tolerated his presence, but she hated Pein. There was no room for anything but hate. Sakura quickly became aware of the fact that Tobi luring her to this room might be a trap, and that - at the very least - the noise she had made thoroughly demolishing the innocent chair might have drawn some unwanted attention.

Casting one last glance at the dark empty room, she slinked back to her own room for what would be her last night of twisting and turning in the high thread count sheets before the much lauded 'decision day'.

It couldn't have come sooner.

...

She was summoned to breakfast by the same kind of note that had first greeted her. Crumpling it up, she hoped fiercely that the Doubutsu form was not the one to come for her. Sakura wasn't sure she could keep her composure in the face of what she knew definitively now was deception.

Perhaps the slender, dark haired boy that came to her door was actually a blessing in disguise. He was dressed all in black, save for the tiny Akatsuki cloud symbol embroidered on the collar of his shirt. A servant - the first she had ever seen. Drawing herself up in her Kimono, she smiled as warmly as she was able. The Kimono was folded and arranged quite well if she did say so herself. Several hours had been put into perfecting the knots and folds after the humiliation of the first time.

The boy would not meet her gaze even as he directed her to the room she had first dined in. The table was perfectly in place - no evidence of her having thrown it just a few days before. Pein sat, imperious and silent, in the same seat as the one he had occupied the last time. The servant boy left without a word and she moved to take her seat - sitting as calmly as possible to hide the anticipation streaming through her veins.

There was silence for a time. Neither of them moving to taste the many plates the littered the span of the table between them.

"You eat something," she insisted, finally, tone irritable," so that I know this isn't poison."

He moved to cradle his head on his laced fingers. "If I was going to poison you, it would have been done long before."

"_I don't trust you_. Not for a second," Sakura hissed.

His eyes flickered slightly as though he was resisting the urge to roll them. She wasn't sure she liked the realisation that he was human enough to have a sense of humour after all. But he obligingly lifted his chopsticks and sampled from the majority of the plates on the table. Sakura found herself unable to meet his gaze as he ate - carefully with flashes of teeth and tongue that made her insides quiver strangely even as he held eye contact with her the entire time.

"Decisions are best made on a full stomach. And there is something you must see first."

She remained silent for a moment - chewing the delicious, but still somehow tasteless food that didn't seem to want to be swallowed. It didn't take long for her tenuous composure to snap. Slamming her hand down in a way that was poignantly reminiscent of her mentor, Sakura hurled the first words that came to her mind.

"I am so sick of your _bullshit. _Is this some kind of sick... torture? Making me wait like this?" She was breathing so heavily that her chest was rising and falling noticeably.

He was silent. Slowly chewing, and then swallowing, taking a long draught from his glass, eyes on her the entire time.

"What? Do you get off on the feeling of power? Of being able to make me wait however you damn well please, _God_? Do you -"

Intangible but unbending fingers of gravity lifted and shoved her backwards in that instant and her pinned solidly to the wall despite how she wriggled. And he was there - closer than his cautious, disinterested politeness had ever allowed - bearing down on her like a force of nature. Her mouth came up to meet his in a furious action that was more an attempt to shift the scales of power in her direction than anything else. His piercings - cold and firm - pressed against her delicate skin like a warning - one that she refused to heed.

There was something reckless about the way he handled her; as though all the protection in the world couldn't stop him from hurting her if he wanted to.

And then, just as she was beginning to enjoy the slightly chapped lips pressed firmly against hers, the slight scrape of metal when she least expected it - a sharp contrast between heated skin and icy cold - her thoughts roared up like a feral beast and she was hit with the full force of just who was pressed up against her. Baring her teeth she bit firmly down on his lower lip, hard enough to draw blood.

It barely seemed to deter him as he took a few slow, dragging seconds to withdraw - breathing heavy and laboured, spiralling eyes seemingly impossibly more vibrant and captivating than usual. Sakura watched the snake-like trail of blood slither from his split lip to drip from his chin with a mixture of savage delight and disgust. Human enough to bleed, human enough to kill.

After a moment he swallowed, agile pink tongue darting out to sweep some of the blood in a way that made heat spike through her veins, before wiping the rest off carelessly. When he spoke it was even more bluntly than normal - deep voice noticeably rough around the edges.

"Come. Downstairs. Now."

...

It took great strength of will to stop herself from leaping at his exposed back and trying to rip out his jugular with her teeth.

The door he had finally lead her to seemed to descend into the very bedrock until coldness curled around her ankles like a cat and the air took on the dry quality she had only experienced within the library vaults of Konoha. Sakura was forced to discretely run her hand along the wall beside her to keep her equilibrium in the darkness. Soon her stair count numbered beyond a thousand and still Pein showed no sign of stopping - save for the few times he paused and gestured to dispel the chakra wards that blocked the stairs at regular intervals.

She came to hate his unbending back before her - leading further and further down into the darkness. The first time he stopped, suddenly, she almost collided into his back and only just managed to still on her tiptoes, entire body held rigid. She hoped she imagined the brush of his hair against her face as she rocked forward, but was glad Pein choose not to speak. Eventually, when her knees protested and her thighs began to burn the decline levelled out and they reached a door.

It was surprisingly small and unimpressive. Made of polished metal it gleamed faintly in the light - the only ornament being the handle in the centre. Pein held open the door and stood to allow her to pass. A prickle of irritation swept across her, but she was desperately curious about the room inside so stepped past him without quarrel.

A huge pool dominated the centre of the large room. This might not have drawn her attention for so long had it not been pure silver. For a moment it seemed as though it was a circular piece of metal - like a twisted stage - but as Sakura drew closer it became clear through the ripples and occasional bubbles that disturbed the tranquil substance that it was, in fact, a liquid. From it stemmed a few twisted pipes, like huge water reeds curling from the surface.

These coiled part the way across the room to a small, seemingly semi-circular partition wall which blocked her view of what the pipes connected to. The entire place was dark, so dark that the high ceiling was out of sight, it wasn't quite apparent where the back wall was, and the shadows seemed to creep from everywhere. Pein slinked up behind her like a ghost on silent feet.

"You may wish to go alone."

As clear as a blackout as usual, but she knew better than to ask for clarification. Pein did not waste speech - if he said something, he meant it. Fear and anticipation began to swell in her throat - coating her mouth like black copper. He inclined his head slightly towards the pipes and the wall. Crossing the hall in quick strides, she tried to quell the thoughts that clamoured at the forefront of her mind.

This was the reason she was here - she would finally know. Her feet crossed the boundary of the partition wall, heels clicking against the metal there as her green eyes landed upon something she had prepared herself to see when she first arrived. Blackness crowded the edges of her vision as nausea welled up in a crashing wave. For a second, she thought she was going to faint like that first time Kakashi used genjutsu to make it look like Sasuke was dying.

Naruto's body suspended in a jar of green liquid - mouth gaping as though gasping for breath, teeth bared in pain and fists clenched even as he was floating there.

Placing her hand on the smooth stone, she rocked against it for support - hand coming up to stifle the scream that clawed at her throat, fingernails digging into her skin as she tried to control herself. Breath came in short, gasping tremors that echoed in the silent hall.

"Dead! He's... he's... Oh, Naruto," the words tumbled out heedless of her attempts to control. She stumbled towards that tank and stared up at his face.

Tears didn't even appear. This was beyond tears. His skin did not look tanned - it took on the hideous shade of green as the liquid that surrounded it and made him look deathly pale and sickly. Sakura didn't think she could ever look at a fish tank again without wanting to vomit. Her eyes crumpled shut as her knees began to wobble. This was exactly what she had prepared herself for - well, minus the mad scientist set up and her friend's body displayed like a dissected specimen in a laboratory.

And then it hit her.

The faint pulse of chakra. The beeping of the machine she had only just noticed over the frantic pounding of her own heart...

He was alive.

And that thought made the first and only tear roll down her cheek as she slumped to her knees as though in prayer.

...

Pein stood perfectly still - arms relaxed at his sides but entire posture stiff as a statue. He prepared himself for her grief, her inevitable rage and waited until he heard her footfall falter, her breathing hitch.

The Kyuubi container had been the most difficult to retrieve, but it was also by far the most valuable. The amount of stumbling blocks had been immense - the Sealing Vessel breaking at the first touch of Nine Tails chakra, no medics being able to even touch him without being burned to a crisp, the difficulty of creating something to contain his body in that would not break, or melt at the first contact.

Her mumbled, fumbling, grief stricken words rumbled and echoed around the room - almost sounding as though they were coming from the ceiling because of the strange sound amplification. Breathing deeply, he shifted slightly - eyes flickering slightly - two almost unnoticeable sounds of discomfort. He would wait until she returned - in anger, or in mourning, or in a calm state.

He hoped for the last - hoped for something to reason with, though he knew instability might mean she would cave easier. This would be negotiated fairly - not wrenched from her suffering if he could help it. Still, his mind whispered, was this not the pain she had to learn, had to feel to be truly as dedicated to peace as he would have wanted from his comrades?

And she would be a comrade.

...

He paused just outside of the boundary of the wall as though testing the atmosphere.

"May I enter?"

Her breathing hitched as déjà vu hit full throttle - blurring vertigo presented another day, another man with identical hair colour, eyes and voice. Tobi had told her Doubutsu was Pein but the reality of the fact only really hit her now - when her emotional walls were crumbled ash. She had allowed him to touch her - to help her. Had thought he smelled pleasant... All through trickery.

"Do what you want," she replied, almost unable to speak through the emotion that clogged her throat, heavy and hot.

Maybe he recognised that as the phrase she had used the last time. Maybe he knew that she knew. He chose not to address it and she wanted to scream at him, wanted to really truly hurt him this time. His footfalls were silent, but she heard the faint whisper of the fabric of his cloak trailing across the smooth stone tiles.

"He is not dead. He is awaiting the removal of the Kyuubi."

"How? I don't see the statue you used on Gaara!"

"This procedure is not like the one we used on the Kazekage Gaara. Which I know you know of. Or any of the rest of the jinchuriki. The Kyuubi is more powerful than the rest and the sealing statute," he frowned, a rare, clear display of emotion, "is no longer serviceable."

There was a pause as Pein's eyes, for once, took on a far-away quality that would have made it easier to look at him directly had Sakura not felt such hatred boiling lava hot in her veins. If Naruto had been dead, she would not have stood here talking. If Naruto had been dead, by now she most likely would have been too. If Naruto had been dead, she would have made sure Pein followed.

Suddenly, his attention snapped back full force - something she still wasn't used to. "I... We need an experienced medic for this procedure."

Sakura noticed his slip and blinked slightly. Pein never wasted a word. Never put a breath out of place. This was highly unusual - she wondered if he was nervous, distracted... But, her thoughts quickly turned back to his request; the one that didn't make the least bit of sense for several reasons.

"You could use anyone. Someone who didn't hate this organisation and everything it stands for... everything that it..." she broke off, pinching her lower lip between her thumb and forefinger hard enough to draw blood in an attempt to control her rampant emotions.

"I was under the impression you wanted to help Naruto-kun. Would you not rather ensure his safety, than leave it to another?"

That hit like a sucker punch to the gut. Despite his manners, his calm aura, he certainly knew just where to stab at when the time came to it. She looked at her best friend; the colour leeched from his tanned face, expression slack and eyes unseeing.

"Of course I do... but I don't believe you would spare such care and effort just for my feelings," Sakura took a deep shuddering breath, "not for a second."

The only bright things in that cave were that one unholy pool - with its shimmering, gleaming poisonous silver liquid - the tank, and the glint of his many piercings as he turned to look at her. Staring into his twisted, whirlpool eyes, Sakura was sure she had never hated any person more than she hated him. He placed a slender hand on the glass of the container - body heat causing condensation that proved definitively that he was alive and human and not some monster birthed by unholy means. Well, he wasn't birthed by unholy means, but he was definitely a monster.

"Allow me to demonstrate just why you are so needed, Haruno-san."

His hand flared green with medical chakra - surprising Sakura more than she would have liked to admit. She had most certainly not pegged him as the type able to heal even the most minor scratch. Just as the chakra penetrated the liquid and touched Naruto, Sakura felt the hissing, coiling, gut-wrenching sensation associated with the chakra of the Nine-Tails. It wasn't the kind of feeling anyone could ever forget - that spine-ripping, lung constricting, vision blurring vertigo. She had seen people throw up after getting too close to it.

An orange spark leapt towards Pein - hissing and spitting like a great, titan cobra - only to be narrowly stopped by a shield of chakra with a clanging noise that echoed through the hall loud enough to make her wince. Pein slowly withdrew his hand, eyes fixed on the tank, which was bubbling like a witch's cauldron straight out of myth, white foam gathering on the top and crackling noises still emitting.

"Two medics and another one of my ninja have been incinerated by this already," he finally turned his attention back to her, "and I know it is because we are not familiar. A threat."

The heart rate and chakra monitors were proffered to her - and she examined the scribbling lines with interest. They ran a little higher than a normal, healthy humans, but then suddenly dipped to a relaxed state for the span of a few moments before dramatically spiking to a high that would - under normal circumstances - have suggested the machine was broken. Sakura frowned as she looked at it - pieces falling into place.

"This is when you entered," Pein indicated to the low, relaxed area, "And this is when I attempted to apply chakra," he indicated to the enormous spike. "You are quite possibly the only person with the necessary medical skill able to perform this without being reduced to smouldering ash. Do you understand now why you are required?"

Sakura didn't answer. She stared at him intently, but didn't look at him. Her focus remained on the darkness, the intricacy of the tiles. Her silence might have annoyed him, judging by his next, unusually brisk, sudden movement.

He reached over and grasped her wrist. "Try. If this fails I will shield you."

His hands were cool, but large, solid and still devastatingly elegant. The feeling of his pulse against her skin made her shudder and wrench her flesh from his hand. She truly hated reminders of his humanity, his mortality.

"I don't trust you," she spat, turning her eyes to the tank just as her hands flamed green, "but I trust him."

Pressing her hand to the ice cold, thick glass of the tank she focused her chakra into the body of her best friend and felt his chakra rush out to her in return. Unlike Pein, it didn't try to hurt her. Instead, it curled around her chakra and herself like a welcome - twirling and caressing with an almost tangible heat that made her heart feel like it was breaking. She looked at his pale washed out face and felt nothing but black anger that only intensified when she turned to look at Pein.

Although she couldn't detect any discernable shift in his features he seemed pleased.

"Perfect," he breathed.

"I... I still haven't agreed." Sakura ground out.

He spread his hands in an expansive gesture Sakura had only seen him use in times when a normal person might have showed some excitement. "If you were going to refuse, you would have done so before."

She couldn't argue with that. Despite how much she wanted to. Naruto needed her - maybe she could find a way to get him out alive, or - at the very least - perform the extraction without killing him. The time away from her village - short, but still stretching an eternity in her mind - seemed to have dulled some of her patriotism and maybe more than a little of her resolve. Sakura was quite sure if Pein had asked in the beginning she would have refused immediately.

Her silence - and lack of vehement protest - seemed to be enough of an answer for him.

"I'll have the necessary scrolls sent to your rooms," Pein said, turning to stride across the room and obviously expecting her to follow like an obedient puppy.

Sakura was loathe to leave Naruto. She placed her hand on the tank and watched as Pein's cloak began to blend with the darkness. Strangely, his vivid hair seemed to catch the silver light of the pool making it seem almost white. Naruto's chakra seemed to respond to her continued, close presence - the warm feeling of his chakra brushing across her lightly as a summer's breeze.

"I'm sorry, Naruto, "she whispered so low that she almost didn't speak at all, "I'm so sorry."

Peeling her hand from the cool glass, she rushed towards Pein's retreating back - emotions burning hot and caustic just beneath her skin.

They remained silent on the long, cold hike back up the many flights of stairs, along the dark, close carpeted halls that were becoming ever more familiar. If it was the Doubutsu-form she might have made conversation. Sakura never saw anyone around the building save for Pein, Doubutsu (who was Pein, anyway) and occasionally Tobi. Sometimes the isolation pressed on her more viciously than others and now was one of these times. It felt like they were the only survivors after a world war - but, really, war was only beginning outside of her beige carpeted, cream walled prison.

When they approached her door, Pein paused - moving minutely to block her entrance with his tall form. She knew he was going to say something important from his expression - or, rather, his glinting swirling eyes.

"I am Doubutsu. It is not logical to treat that body any differently from this one."

She knew, her face remained impassive as she calmly sidestepped by him and shut the door behind her, slumped against it and slid to the floor. There was only so much she could take in one day.

It was some time before she heard the dull thuds of his retreating footsteps.

...

* * *

Oh, god, I am not sure where this is going. Plot rollercoaster is in full swing! I'm hoping to wrap this up on the next chapter - hang on for the plotty loop de loops and spirals to come. Puke bags are beneath the seats.

Thanks for reading!

Silver ~ x


	4. Chapter 4

**Mercurial**

_Their attraction was simply mercurial; slippery, hot, and intangible. She couldn't handle it. PeinSaku_

* * *

...

Time doesn't exist; clocks exist.

...

Months passed. A little less than a year was her best estimate: nine, perhaps ten months. There were whole weeks unaccounted for - slabs of time in a city that didn't seem to experience seasons save for a continual monsoon. Sakura mulled over the biggest black spots in her memory. There was the time that passed between her capture and becoming lucid; anything between a few days and a few weeks. The interspersing periods when she occasionally snapped - tried to hurt Pein, tried to sabotage equipment...

Those moments were white-hot flashes of anger that stood out against the stark background of her shameful obedience. There was no other option.

Those moments were when she experienced again the treatment that had marked her first few weeks; sedatives, being confined to the small set of guest rooms, knowing that they were putting things - drugs, sedatives - in her drinks and food that her chakra inhibitor cuffs left her unable to fight... Timeless dragging 'rehabilitation', before she was allowed back to work.

The work was the only thing that anchored her.

Touching the glass in front of Naruto's cool unmoving face. Swiping her fingers where the line whiskers marked his, now pale, cheeks.

There was a team working alongside her that she, without exception, hated and didn't trust. They watched her when they thought she wasn't looking, had begun to watch her even when she was looking. There was some form of rotation system in place; the team changed every month. So that she wouldn't get used to any, so that none would get used to her. It was partly how she measured the passing of time. There were around four of them at any given time; all men. All with flat, hard eyes and tight expressions.

Save for them she saw Naruto, the servants and Pein. The servants that appeared, silent and solemn as spirits of the dead, stalked the corridors, delivered her washing and food and never spoke. She never saw the same one twice - Pein had the entire city at his disposal, it would seem. And Doubutsu... the Doubutsu form never reappeared.

And man in the orange mask never darkened her doorstep again. Although a creeping, crawling feeling of being watched still fluttered across her skin at times. She studiously avoided the forth floor and it's darkness, the aura that slinked around her like a black cat whenever she entered the vicinity of that floor.

Pein rarely saw her either. She ate alone in her room, and spent the rest of the time cocooned in the surprisingly well stocked lab. He summoned her presence every few weeks for a dinner he never ate to question her progress. She remembered how it was when she first came; her simmering resentment, his harsh, scraping kiss.

It wasn't like that now.

She spoke only to answer a direct question. Didn't look at him. Didn't think. Didn't. Disobedience only brought about long, drugged spells of confusion and even greater isolation where it felt like her psyche was ripped to pieces and slopped back together in a jumbled heap. Thoughts only brought anger and hatred and a melting pot of furious emotions she had learned to keep a handle on.

This time was like being submerged underwater, like being a seed planted deep in the earth waiting for the warming touch of spring.

She remained coiled up inside herself. A state destined not to last.

...

"Your progress?" His deep voice still sliced through her thoughts after all this time. Sakura couldn't ignore him. Not even now.

She stared resolutely at her chopsticks. They were smooth and dark, high-quality wood with a strange silver sheen. A kind she had never seen before she came to Ame. It must have come from the forests around here. Her thumb lingered on one of the knots in the wood. Focusing on things other than him helped, at least a little. Finally, Sakura answered in the neutral tone she had perfected.

"I wrote you a report."

Painstakingly written; 36 pages long. They had made progress, a massive amount of it. They were ready for the extraction. She had considered delaying it, had considered sabotaging it, had considered killing Naruto so that that Pein would never get his _filthy_ hands... She snapped that train of thought like a thread pulled taunt and took a deliberate bite of rice.

"I want to hear it in your own words. You should be proud of what you have achieved. _I_ am proud of what you have achieved."

"_Proud. **Proud**_** -**" Her neck gave a painful crack as she jolted her head up to stare across the table at him. Her eyes were slits of green, as thin and bright as twin blades of grass. The smooth, lovely wood between her fingers exploded in a sprinkle of splinters.

The twinges of pain as the little splinters dug into her calloused fingers only sharpened the edge of her anger, but she had more control now than she did at the start. She stayed in the seat and clenched her teeth together as her chest heaved, her entire system prickled with adrenaline, her vision sharpened into one single orange point of focus. Then, she made the mistake of looking from his hair to his eyes.

Those swirling eyes. Her control slid around the swirls like water disappearing down a sink.

But Sakura stayed still. She'd come too far for another 'rehabilitation'; feared them because she knew that he could wipe out her personality as easily as snuffing out a candle. Countless nights had been spent wondering just why he hadn't. Months ago she would have screamed and spit and hurled anything she could get her hands on at him.

She remembered how her hands had shook those first times. As they hadn't done in years.

Now her fingers were poised and still - she looked away from him down to the skin embedded with splinters and growing speckles of blood. Sakura picked up a thick, white, linen handkerchief and dabbed at the blood daintily, as though she actually cared. She lifted her hands to her mouth and sucked out the splinters one by one; spitting them into the bloodstained cloth.

She felt the weight of his gaze on her as she suckled at her own skin, which was growing more soft and pliable by the day as combat faded to a dusty memory. The coppery taste of blood was calming rather than riling and it brought her back to herself. For a few close seconds, there was only Haruno Sakura and a few tiny flesh wounds; no Ame, no Pein, no nothing.

His chakra was like nothing she had ever felt; like a fog rolling across her entire world and skewing her view of everything.

Sakura felt when he moved to stand over her, but didn't react. She spat another splinter into the cloth; exaggerated the sucking sounds and motions. The persistent wet sound of her mouth was deafening in the room. She could feel his eyes on her, the tiny noise of him swallowing reflexively. The unfamiliar surge she felt was so alien it took her a moment to realise that it was power.

The memory of his mouth pressing fiercely against her own; the cool press of his metal studs; rose so strongly that she almost felt she was experiencing it all over again. Pein's breath rolled across her cheek. In her mind, a forked path appeared. A previously unsought route presented itself. Had she not suffered so long in this strange place, so isolated and hopeless she wouldn't have even considered it.

Now, she turned and looked at him. Disconnected her lips from her finger with an audible 'pop' and left her lips parted and shining, her eyelids half mast. His face was blank, but she was used to it now; the slight crease between the eyebrows and the tightness of his jaw spoke volumes to her. She could use this; herself, her body, the tool she had always had but had never wanted to use. In that moment, the old academy teaching of 'ninja equals tool' fell squarely into place. She felt ready to use herself any way necessary for her own gain and shame did not rear its head.

She was ready.

Her eyes shuttered and she heard the rustle of fabric as he drew closer. The weight of her power and his intention was stifling. Her lips parted a little further, enough for her pink tongue to sweep across the lower lip. His sharp intake of breath made her heart thunder.

Ready.

Electricity crackled as she felt him but a millimetre away.

Then, the harsh thud of wood against wood as the screen door was shoved open.

Pein straightened immediately. Sakura's eyes snapped open.

That horrible orange mask seemed to fill the room until her guilt swelled to compete with it. She stared blankly at him for a moment; the man she hadn't seen for months. His horrible chakra signal was gone and he slumped slightly. Perhaps it wasn't the same person as before. Perhaps more than one wore that mask.

"Tobi wanted to speak to you Pein-sama." There was an amused edge to his voice, not so deep as she remembered. He lolled his head to the side like a child.

Sakura turned her head away from Pein, digging her fingernails into her palms. She didn't look up to see his expression and stood so abruptly her chair screeched across the wooden floorboards in protest.

"You know where to find me if you have any questions about the report." Her tone was distant. She shut the door just loud enough behind her for it to seem like a statement. To distance herself from the events she had thought were going to occur in that plain room.

Instead of her own clamouring thoughts, she concentrated only on the dull noise of her footfalls. Later, in her room, she counted the raindrops hammering against the panelled window. She kept her eyes open because if she closed them she only saw his face.

She watched the sky where the moon occasionally peeped through the clouds until it reminded her of the glint of his piercings, then washed herself in a scauldingly hot shower where there was nothing but white tiles until her skin was bright pink and she didn't smell like anything other than clean water. By morning, she almost succeeded in wiping the previous evening and her trail of thoughts from her mind.

Almost.

...

Pein, did, in fact appear at her door the next morning. His manner was brusque and the visit was short. Sakura didn't invite him into her room and he didn't ask. In the dimness of the corridor the scant light from her room highlighted strange angles of his face and made it hard to tell his expression - not that that was easy on any other occasion.

"You have a week of down-time before we attempt the extraction. You are to be as well-rested as possible."

"They_ need_ me for the final adjustments to the equipment," Sakura protested.

"We only _need_ you for your chakra," he reminded her, sharp in a way he had never been before,"your skills and knowledge, while impressive, are not unheard of. You will rest."

There was an edge to his voice that Sakura didn't know what to think of. Perhaps last night had affected his _holiness_ more than she could have imagined.

"Fine," she said, defeated,"whatever you say."

Today she did not dare close the door on him.

"And you are to stay in your room and not answer the door. It will be locked. Select servants will be able to open it to deliver provisions. I have ordered new books for you to entertain yourself with it."

Rehabilitation? Again? This had no precedent. Perhaps some of the Akatsuki had returned and she wasn't allowed to prowl around the building as she wished anymore. Perhaps he was afraid she would decide to try and end the extraction before the final phase and wanted to keep her under lock and key. The order to stay confined rubbed her entirely the wrong way, but if she protested he would ignore her. Just what she needed; more time locked up with her own thoughts. If she ever got out of this hell hole Sakura would never need time to herself again.

"Alright," she muttered, finally, when it seemed he wouldn't leave without her assent.

For a mad dictator, he seemed to have an awful preoccupation with her consent and free will. Or, at least, a semblance of it.

He nodded; a slow, sure movement that made her furiously angry for no particular reason.

"I hope you will like the books."

Small talk should be classified as a method of fucking torture, she thought, viciously.

"You have good taste in literature," and very little else.

"As do you."

What the fuck did he want? What more could she give? Her anger was so deeply rooted it was like a vine chocking the life out of her; slow moving and likely to remain forever. It struck her that he was maybe so lonely that this was the only not entirely hostile interaction he ever got. She couldn't get away; the perfect captive conversationalist. The image of a lonely genius suited him down to the ground. Suddenly, the edge dulled on her anger. Sakura just felt frustrated; impotent, confused.

"If I behave," those words scorched her tongue,"will you let me go to the greenhouses?" She may as well get something from this.

"If you behave," he repeated, a dubious tone creeping in.

"Please," she added. Suicide wouldn't be needed soon because if she continued this way she would simply die of shame.

He took a very small step forward. The rustle of his cloak made her bristle. She wondered why he wore it inside all the time, wondered what he looked like without it. Her hand tightened on the door. She thought that maybe he liked her to beg.

"I don't think it's a good idea for you to wander around anymore. Not until you become fully Akatsuki."

Fully. That meant he already thought of her as part of the way there, and she supposed that she was. She supposed that Konoha, if it still existed, might never take her back after this. She could already be a missing nin. She probably was. She didn't know what she was; not fully Konoha, not fully Akatsuki, not fully anything. Just a stupid, _annoying_, girl in the wrong place, at the wrong time, with the wrong people.

"Fully." The word escaped her lips before she could stop it.

Even in the dimness she saw a look pass across his eyes like a bird flying across the sun.

"I still have a hope that you will join us in our mission."

"You do not_ have_ hope, you _destroy_ hope."

There is a long pause then, and Sakura was sure that she was going to die. She didn't know why that thought surfaced, when he clearly needed her to finish the extraction, but it is so concrete and solid that it left no room for fear.

"A thread in a tapestry does not know it's purpose in the full picture, an ant scurrying around the ground cannot see it's path as those looking down upon it can... One day, you will see why I do this. Many other Akatsuki members had misgivings, but were eventually convinced. You were wasted in Konoha, this is where you will make the mark you were meant to make," Pein said. She wondered if he spent his free time painstakingly writing speeches like this. She wondered if there were crumpled wads of paper in his room with words dedicated to convincing her. She wondered why he thought her worth convincing.

"I was loved in Konoha," was her reply.

He frowned as though love did not ever occur to him. It didn't seem like he had ever loved, had ever been loved. The full scale intensity of his aims seemed to leave no room for something like love. What was that emotion to a deity?; probably just a distraction.

"Is that why you will not accept your place here?" He seemed genuinely curious, and had taken another step forward. She wanted to recoil.

"Love is all I have left. Knowing those I love are out there, under the same sky." Honesty poured from her like water from a broken pipe. Sakura wasn't used to spending so much time away from home, friendless and alone. She needed intimacy, and comfort, and friendship as a flower needs the sun. For the first time in an eternity, she thought of Sasuke and couldn't remember the exact contours of his face.

"Love does little; it is used for justification of wrongs, evils... You can treat someone badly if you say you love them, if they love you, and they will accept it. Love makes us indolent. Pain makes us strive for life, for better. Pain brings people together; it binds, it forges bonds stronger than love could _ever_..." His mouth closed with a click of teeth.

Pity welled up inside of her, unbidden.

She thought he saw the change in her expression and knew that the twist of his thin mouth meant that he abhorred her pity. Pity was for someone less than a God.

"I will consider allowing you into the greenhouse if you behave," His voice was toneless. She knew he was only conceding that to try and make her grasp onto something other than his outburst.

"Thank you."

He nodded sharply and bowed before leaving without a word.

Sakura stood at the door, clutching the wood of the frame for a long time after the sweep of his cloak disappeared around the corner.

...

Three days passed. The door was locked. The servants were silent and punctual. The books were engaging, but not so much so that she could forget their encounters. Sakura wondered when it had gotten to the point that Pein almost filled her thoughts to bursting. Like Sasuke had done all those years ago. But, now, instead of writing 'Uchiha Sakura' in painstaking pink letters with little hearts and flowers, she wanted to claw off all her skin and burn her Judas of a body because it felt like he had invaded every part of her.

She found she would rather think about him than Naruto and her guilt. Anything was preferable to that.

She had four days left and had to make a constant effort not to tick away the hours, to think of the minutes left. Sakura had never gotten so much sleep in her life as she had in Ame. Her sadness was so deeply rooted and constant that she found sleep the only thing that really calmed her. Or, perhaps calmed was the wrong word; it let her escape for a while.

Admitting that made her feel even weaker; what would Tsunade have said? After the first few weeks, she never had trouble sleeping again, in fact, she slept better than she had since she was very, very small. Before she knew the world of death and missions and duty. It occurred to her that they - that Pein - had probably had the mixture she had made in the greenhouse to sedate herself copied and put it in her food.

Sleep now was like sinking into quicksand; quick and all-consuming. She didn't even dream. She slept away half the day and night to avoid staring at those same four walls, those corridors, the hateful rain. But, now, Sakura found that she could not sleep; not a wink.

She couldn't sit down to read; to sink in the soporific sea of knowledge. Pacing only made her feel more like a trapped animal. It was like those first few horrific months when every part of her felt like an exposed nerve.

The sharp knock of the door made a tremour run through her, though she resisted the urge to jump.

Not for the first time, Sakura was sure there were cameras in her room.

"Come in," she said, after a few beats of her heart; not wanting to seem to eager.

The door swung open to reveal Pein again. That was unusual; he did not usually visit her so often. She didn't speak, or move to greet him. Didn't move at all, in fact, except to flex her toes in the deep plush of the carpet. Knowing him, he probably still noticed.

"Do you still wish to visit the greenhouse?"

As usual; he did not step inside without an invitation. The way he picked and chose certain social niceties to follow and totally disregarded others was a source of endless irritation for her.

"Please," she said, hating herself.

...

It was odd for him to do this kind of menial chore himself, but it cemented the idea that he was keeping as close an eye as possible on her in the run up to the extraction.

"Aren't you going to do something? I'll be here a while."

"What would you suggest?" There was an edge to his voice that she wasn't entirely familiar with.

She wiggled her knife inside one of the fire-peppers to extract the seeds. Penetrating - she cut that thought as those she had jammed the knife inside her own head, rather than in the pepper. The humid air of the greenhouse made sweat bead on her forehead and under the curve of her breasts; lately she had forgone a bra, but today she wished she hadn't, because her skin felt extra sensitive where the fabric rasped over her breasts.

"I don't know, but you just sitting there is annoying,"Sakura grumbled, twisting the implement in her hand more viciously than necessary, spraying the stinging seeds over her left hand. "Fuck!"

She dropped the knife on the counter,"Fuck, fuck, fuck!" Moving quickly, she doused her hand in water and began stimulating her skin cells with the weak amount of chakra the inhibitor cuffs allowed her to use.

She didn't know how she could tell, but Pein seemed amused. "You fucker!" She said, as though to no one, but really meaning him.

"Shut up,"Pein said, his hand suddenly on her wrist, the other blazing chakra over her burning skin. She had never heard him use even the mildest profanity. It made her prickle all over in a way she didn't want to examine.

Even in the humid, close air of that glass room his breath was hot and wet against the nape of her neck where her ponytail left her bare. Her nipples stiffened against the fabric covering them and she knew that he could either see down her top, or his omniscience really existed because he let out an amused sound and reached his, still chakra exuding, hand around her to grasp her breast fully in his hand.

For a moment she was too shocked to do anything; literally, as his fingers sent tendrils of chakra licking across the skin through the fabric.

She twisted in his arms like a cat and bared her teeth,"What the fuck do you -"

He slammed her into the table; her rear digging painfully into the wood and her hands being held dangerously close to were the rest of the fire-pepper seeds were scattered. His mouth was hot, but his piercings were still somehow cold. When she tried to gasp in air, he stuck his tongue into her mouth and she felt the piercing in it 'clack' off her teeth.

When he drew back there was the no expression on his face, but the hardness pressing into her stomach juxtaposed sharply with that. For a moment they regarded each other- almost eye to eye as he had hunkered down to about her level. The bones in her wrist were grating together painfully where he had clasped them behind her back.

Sakura remembered what she had decided the last night they had dinner together and fought her urge to kick and bite and spit. She acknowledged the deep and hideous fact that she wanted him. You didn't have to trust or like want them - but she did respect him, and she could use this.

"This isn't very _Godly_ of you." But she pressed herself more firmly against his hips to counter those words, her eyes blazing.

"Haven't you read the old myths?" He asked, in reply, as he zipped down her top with his free hand.

His calloused fingers whispered across her skin, before he drew them back and sucked two deep into his mouth. She watched the piercings below his lip ripple as he sucked and felt slickness begin to sink into her underwear. He put his fingers back on one of her pale pink nipples and pulled and swirled them around it until it turned dark pink from his fondling.

"I could read you some, perhaps. I did think about adding them to the ones I leant you," he made a low sound in the back of his throat,"they're very _stimulating_."

Part of her wanted to laugh at him, but the other part felt raw and needy. She pushed herself further against him and leaned in far enough to bite at his earlobe. The piercings there tasted metallic, and her shoulders burned as her arms almost popped out of the socket. He moved away from her seeking mouth to suck almost her entire other breast into his mouth so hard she thought she saw stars.

Then, he let out a 'zing' of chakra from his tongue and she actually did. Was it possible to orgasm just from this? - she was pathetic.

His hand left her breast to meander down to her shorts, and leaving a wet snail trail in it's wake. The tingling in the pit of her stomach increased to a dull throb. She could feel her pulse in her ears, at her wrist, behind her knees, at the juncture between her thighs. She also, savagely, wanted to tear his throat out with her teeth.

He slid his hand into her shorts and yanked them down to her knees, along with her pants. She moved to close her legs out of instinct, but he knocked them apart with his own easily. When his pale fingers slid between her lower lips to be greeted with soaking wetness she blushed the colour of her hair at the pleased sound he made. She wanted to grind into his fingers, but couldn't allow herself to do so.

"In the old myths,"He continued, breath hatefully steady and he slid one finger, then two, inside of her,"the gods take many different forms to lie with the mortal women of the land. Did you know that? Princes, swans, water, gold... There was no limit to the shapes they took to seduce. To be welcomed with open arms and,"his head jerked up to her mouth to press another scalding kiss and he crooked his fingers inside of her,"_legs_."

She bit him, and his eyes sparked like liquid mercury.

For a moment, she though he was going to knock the beautiful, expensive glassware from the table to lift her on it, when he jerked his fingers out of her so quickly it made her hiss, but she should have known he wouldn't be so wasteful. He turned and lifted her effortlessly to press her back against the glass wall of the greenhouse. She wondered, hysterically, if anyone could see, as her back arched from the cold press of the wall.

He looked her in the eye as he unzipped himself, and Sakura found she had to close her eyes and tilt her head back against the glass.

"Ask,"he said.

She didn't want to. So far she had consented without actually saying the words; that felt almost too much. She wanted him as deep inside her as he could go and she hated herself for it. He pressed himself against her dripping entrance and she thought that she might not have to.

"Ask," he repeated, with that quiet confidence she loathed and craved in equal measure.

"Please,"The word tore itself from her mouth and left her lips raw.

The sudden invasion of him was almost too much, it had been too long. She felt like she was bursting out of her own skin; like she didn't belong in the body she was born him. She bit at the tendons on his neck to try and steady herself, but he set a brutal, punishing pace that jolted her breasts with every thrust. She was reduced to clinging to him and letting out a stream of garbled words that tumbled from her mouth unwillingly.

Her orgasm was so fierce and prolonged, she almost didn't feel him dig his nails into her thighs as he emptied himself inside of her.

Suddenly, his breath was ragged and she saw her chance even as her world just began to right itself.

"Pein, please," Sakura said, trying to keep her tone light,"you can take over the world without killing him; Naruto. _Please -_"

"Please what, darling?" The pet name set off so many alarm bells in her head that she almost couldn't think past the clamour.

His pointer finger swirled around her areola, sending little bolts of chakra in that made her twitch. "My, my, my, I am astonished, girl. Had I known this form got you so _wet_ I would have used it months ago."

She opened her eyes to see that hateful, swirling orange mask pushed up enough to reveal a strong jawline and a wicked grin. The chakra that suddenly manifested around her was as dark as the ace of spades and twisted around her like a lover.

And then the body in front of her was gone, and it took all of her reflexes to catch her balance. She leant against the glass in that flowery, sunny room for a long time before she could even find the will to right her shorts and zip up her top.

...

There was a gap in her memory then, like a page torn from the middle of a book, and suddenly she was in a dark, dim corridor.

Her hair was sticking up strangely and she felt a foreign wetness slide down her thighs matching the salty, burning tears that fell freely down her cheeks. The sound of her knuckles against the wood of the door was startling in the silence. She had always known this was where his room was; he had told her several times that she was welcome to visit if she wanted to discuss something. She never had. This felt like sacrilege. Like treading on holy ground.

Another gap and Sakura remembered Pein - the real Pein, please, let it be the real one - touching the fat droplets of tears on her cheeks as though he had never seen them before. He didn't speak to her; just led her inside the warm room and then a bathroom. She leant her hot face against the cool tiles as he ran the water for a while.

She watched the stream of liquid rather than look at him; cloakless and stern. Lithe and muscular like she had imagined; like the body she had been pressed against not so long ago.

She didn't remember him taking off her clothes, but suddenly his strong, sure hands ran a warm, wet cloth between her thighs. She felt a twinge of arousal and wondered if she was sick and damaged to the very core.

"I am not the true leader of the Akatsuki. I never was."

He let out a soft sigh and that human sound frightened her more than anything he had ever done.

"I told him to stay away from you."

The weight of his guilt was shocking and heavy in the pit of her stomach.

"I thought he was you,"she said, tonelessly."I consented because I thought it was you."

The look he gave her was enough to cut to the bone, but she still felt a tingle at the sight of him between her legs; she really was perverse. Opening the Pandora's box of her desire was every bit as bad as she had imagined it to be, but she still felt a power. That masked man had not robbed her of her power. No one could; they could only tamp it for a bit. She struck while he was shocked still by the knowledge of how she wanted him.

"If I help you kill that man will you let Naruto go?" If nothing she was determined. That determination was all she had left.

There was a pause when he guided her into the bath and let her sink into the water.

"That man is Uchiha Madara, it would not be possible."

She didn't know what to think any more; the old enemy of her village was alive and well and _virile,_ apparently. For some reason, Sakura wanted to laugh.

Pein sat down on the dark, straight backed chair opposite the tub. "I'm moving you into the room adjacent to mine."

He looked away from her and ran a hand through his vivid hair. She was mesmerised by the sight of his pale, exposed arms and welcomed that feeling rather than the sickness that lurked beneath it.

"But I will let you go after the extraction if you do not wish to stay." For the first time, he would not meet her gaze.

After a long minute, he stood up and left. He didn't close the door behind him. Sakura sat in the bath until the water went cold, and then threw up until there was nothing left in her stomach but bile. Pein came back in and wiped away the vomit and fresh tears, patted her dry with a towel as though her naked body meant nothing to him, wrapped her in a robe and bundled her in his bed.

She lay in the dark, surrounded by his scent, and thought back on the days when the only monster was a pale man with gold, snake eyes.

The last thing she remembered was him tipping a cup full of sedative up to her lips to drink just like he did with his water canteen the first day she remembered being in Ame.

There was a deep, empty place inside of her where her hate had been.

...

...

...

* * *

_Oh good lord, okay.__ I know that I said this chapter would wrap it up, but I am a lying liar and I'm sorry this took so long. Also, if anyone betas this for me I will love you forever and ever and ever. _

_Thanks for reading,_

_Silver. _


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